After some advice

[Andykb675]

Hi,
I've always tended to look after my car appearance but never really took it too seriously and after reading some of the post in here and advice given I've decided to take the plunge and post.

Im currently out of the UK and my wife picked up a used A6 Avant Black edition as a treat for the family(last few years our car history has been poor at best lest just say french and move along)...anyway back to the car and looking after it.

Ive tended to use in the past Autoglym and Meguirs products(they're the ones my dad used to look his VW Golf GTI's) and i had no idea how this market appears to have exploded and the whole valet/detailing discussion.

So to make a start ill be refreshing my kit when i return to the UK in the next few months, so that will mean a new pressure washer & foam lance along with a new starter kit for this detailing journey ill be on.

One thing that is bugging me is that my dealer pushed really hard for me to go for the paint and interior clean and seal which i decided to opt out of. Is it possible for an enthused amateur to undertake this kind of work at home on my drive? If so any suggestions for products greatly received so i can do some more research.

Thanks in advance ...Andy

 

[scotty76]

Hi Andy,

There's not much wrong with Meguiars or Autoglym. They are less fashionable of late than some of the other brands but they both make good, solid products. To your question about whether you could achieve what the dealer would do yourself the answer is an unequivocal yes! The reason for that is that despite what they tell you the products are not the best you can get. Indeed you can buy both Autoglym Lifeshine and Gard X kits from EBay at a fraction of the cost. This subject comes up often, try sticking "dealer paint protection" in the search box above and you'll get plenty of light reading. You were right to refuse though. It's not good value for money for you, it's simply a dealer margin making exercise.

There's a long list of kit you could buy but what has changed recently is the emergence of super hard wearing ceramic coatings. These are pro detailer applied and will last years. If I were in your shoes I'd look for a pro detailer to do an interior and exterior protection for you. I'd then simply keep on top of it with an appropriate shampoo (detailer would recommend which depending on the coating). I think this will give you best bang for your buck.

If you are set on DIY post again and we can let you know what the basics are, or again use the search box for more threads. Polished Bliss have some good guides on their website:

http://www.polishedbliss.co.uk/acatalog/car-care-advice.html

Hope that helps.

 

[Demetrios]

Can go wrong with Detailing World either

http://www.detailingworld.co.uk/forum/index.php

 

[Leyton388]

Hi Andy

Like you i have always looked after my cars but i have recently being looking into DIY detailing but didn't know where to start. There are some great threads on here and detailing world which is where i found the link below. It is a full basic guide on detailing and the same company also sell a full dodo juice detailing kit for quite a reasonable price.

https://www.basicsofbling.com/tutorials

https://www.basicsofbling.com/product/works-kit

Im going to be ordering the kit in the next week or so but Dodo Juice seems to be very popular and has some very good reviews.

 

[steeve]

If the paintwork is good go for just a wax don't use polish unless for correction purposes. If it leaves a white powder then its a polish.